Bengali Beauty

Development

Noor became inspired to write the script for Bengali Beauty one day after hearing Can't Take My Eyes Off You by Frankie Vallie.^[9] The setting of the film came to him from a film that had been offered to him before as well as a series of interviews with his aunt, actress Mita Rahman, whom used to be a DJ for the popular World Music program on Bangladesh Betar. ^[10] Bangladesh Betar and World Music are a central to the film's narrative.^[11] The style and tone of the film was inspired by Hollywood Vietnam War movies such as Apocalypse Now, Good Morning Vietnam, and Full Metal Jacket as well as Bollywood classis such as Silsila and Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge.^[12]

The film was first announced at CinemaCon in Las Vegas, Nevada in May 2016 .^[13] Ridy Sheikh was originally cast as Moyna, however, she was later replaced by Mumtaheena Toya.^[14][15]

Filming

The principal photography commenced on 2 May 2017.^[16][17]

Box office

Bengali Beauty opened its theatrical release in ten cities throughout the United States on February 16th and grossed more than BDT 50 million ($US600,000).^[18][19][20] The film is the largest released and highest grossing Bengali language film of all-time in the United States.^[21][22]

Critical response

Critics praised the film's screenplay, direction, music, and the performances of Noor, Sarah Alam, and Ashfique Rizwan.^[23][24][25] An aggregation of reviews on IMDb gives the film an average rating of 8.5/10.^[26]

Faraz Hossain of Prothom Alo described Bengali Beauty as "a movie that touches the heart" and complimented its writing and direction.^[27] He further stated, "Outside the traditional Bengali film, this film brings a different taste. There is no need to say this to anyone. The movie itself is saying this to the viewer."^[28]

Smita Bannerjee of Brown Girl Magazine similarly lauded the filmmaking, stating "Bengali Beauty sweeps you away on waves of humor, heartbreak, and ravishing romance."^[29] She went on to name it her favorite movie of the year, awarding the film four out of five stars.^[30]

Sanjay Pati of Urban Asian described the film as "daring and beautiful", in addition to highlighting Noor and Alam's performances, stating, "The film comes alive when DJ Afzal (Noor) and DJ Mita (Sarah Alam) take the mic."^[31] Despite being less enthusiastic about Toya's and Pijush Bandyopadhyay's performances, Pati nevertheless gave the film four out of five stars, declaring it "a welcome gift of vintage goods in a dazzling new package."^[32]

Controversy

On March 21st, the Bangladesh Film Censor Board banned the film from release in Bangladesh.^[33] Among the reasons cited by the Censor Board were that the title of the film was unsuitable, Noor’s character in the film was unsuitable, and the scene where Noor’s character cries as he reads the news of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s assassination never happened in real life nor was it realistic that anyone would cry.^[34][35]

Noor appealed the Censor Board’s decision and on June 5th, the Appeal Committee issued a ruling overturning the Censor Board’s ban citing the freedom of speech and expression.^[36][37]